Tuesday, 10 Feb 2026

Child Poverty

Questions (235)

Jennifer Whitmore

Question:

235. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the progress his Department is making in tackling child poverty. [9928/26]

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Written answers

The Child Poverty and Well-being Programme Office was established in the Department of the Taoiseach in 2023 to prioritise action across government in areas that will have the greatest impact for children and families experiencing poverty. The Programme Office was retained in the Programme for Government to continue the work to break down silos between departments and drive delivery.

Published in 2023, the Programme Office’s initial Programme Plan, From Poverty to Potential: A Programme Plan for Child Poverty and Well-being 2023-2025, builds on six focus areas which have the potential to bring about significant change for families and children.

These focus areas are:

• Income assistance and joblessness;

• Early learning and childcare;

• Reducing the cost of education;

• Family homelessness;

• Consolidating and integrating family and parental assistance, health and well-being;

• Enhancing participation in culture, arts and sport for children and young people affected by poverty.

The Programme Office’s first Progress Report, Child Poverty and Well-being in Transition: Learning and Adapting to Accelerate Change in Children’s Lives published in early 2025, provided updates for the focus areas, acknowledged challenges and highlighted emerging lessons and priorities. The report also highlighted that the Programme Office has strengthened the cross-government focus on addressing child poverty. A copy of the report can be found on gov.ie: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-the-taoiseach/publications/progress-report/.

The next multi-annual Child Poverty and Well-being Programme Plan and the second Progress Report are currently under development and will be published in the coming months.

Annual Summit and Cross Government Network

Last September, I hosted the Programme Office’s second annual summit on child poverty and well-being in the Aviva Stadium.

The Summit brought together leaders, policymakers, practitioners, and change-makers from across sectors to explore how we can drive systemic change that delivers results for children.

It highlighted collaborative approaches, examined what is working, and surfaced bold ideas that are needed to address the structural barriers that keep children and families in poverty.

Children’s participation was an integral part of the day and included an art exhibition, a specially written musical performance from Jimmy Maguire of Music Generation, and engagement with our Youth Advisory Group on Child Poverty and Well-being.

The discussions and outcomes from the Summit will feed directly into the development of the Office’s second Programme Plan.

A report on the Second Annual Child Poverty and Well-being Summit was published in December and is available on gov.ie: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-the-taoiseach/publications/summit-2025/#summit-report.

To deepen cross government coordination, the Office established a Cross-Government Network on Child Poverty and Well-being. To date, there have been six meetings of the Cross Government Network. At the sixth meeting of the Cross-Government Network (CGN), space was created for practical exploration of how a more creative, ambitious, and responsive public sector can better support children and families through Action Learning Sets.

The results of this session will be explored at the next Cross-Government Network which will take place in Q1 2026.

The new Child Poverty Target

In September 2025, in line with commitments in the Programme for Government, the Government agreed a new Child Poverty Target - to reduce the child consistent poverty rate to 3% or less by the end of 2030. This target is ambitious, representing a reduction of 5.5 percentage points, or nearly 60%, from the current rate of 8.5%.

While consistent poverty is a very important metric, it is not the only way we have of measuring how children are doing.

Given the multi-faceted nature of child poverty, both targeted income measures, and non-income measures, such as housing, education, childcare and health services, are key in reducing child poverty, as well as high quality and sustainable employment.

To support a multi-dimensional view of child poverty, the Programme Office on Child Poverty and Well-Being is compiling a Dashboard of Indicators that will be used alongside the new Child Poverty Target.

Budget 2026

An important strategic initiative of the Programme Office on Child Poverty and Well-being is the cross-government focus on child poverty and well-being in the annual Budget.

On 30 December, I published

Breaking the Cycle: New Measures in Budget 2026 to Address Child Poverty and Promote Well-being. This is the third cross-government report on child poverty spending in the annual Budget – and the first Budget of this Government’s term.

Budget 2026 moves away from cost-of-living payments towards permanent targeted payments to support those most vulnerable. A €320 million social welfare package for children includes the largest increase ever in the Child Support Payment, increased income thresholds for the Working Family Payment, and the extension of Fuel Allowance to those on the Working Family Payment. Other new or enhanced allocations in Budget 2026 to address child poverty through provision of services include:

• An additional €5.14 million for Equal Start - a 30% increase from the 2025 allocation

• An additional €16.5m (€48 million full year cost) to the Department of Education and Youth to implement a new DEIS Strategy and the new DEIS Plus scheme

• A 22% increase of €7.3m for Youth Justice supports

• €3.2m of additional funding to expand and strengthen the national network of Family Resource Centres, with the addition of ten new centres, bringing the national total to 136, and

• Expansion of the income thresholds for the National Childcare Scheme, which will reduce the costs of childcare for lower-income families.

Analysis from the Economic and Social Research Institute shows that the permanent measures taken in Budget 2026 are progressive and prioritise protecting the incomes of the poorest families.

This targeted approach is a strategic decision by Government to close the gap for children and families most at risk in our society. The 2026 Budget report is available on gov.ie: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-the-taoiseach/publications/annual-budget/#budget-2026-report.

Child and Family Homelessness Action Plan

The Government’s new housing plan Delivering Homes, Building Communities recognises that homelessness is the single most pressing social issue that we face and introduces a number of key measures to address homelessness.

One such measure relates to the development of a dedicated cross-Departmental and agency led Child and Family Homelessness Action Plan.

Given the importance of this issue for child poverty and child well-being, the Department of the Taoiseach and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage are working together on this Plan, supported by relevant Government departments and State bodies.

Disabilities Assessments

Questions (236)

Jennifer Whitmore

Question:

236. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Taoiseach for an overview of the 'Budget 2026: Spotlight on Disability' report recently published by his Department. [9929/26]

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Written answers

The Taoiseach

The Budget 2026: Spotlight on Disability report was published by my Department in December 2025. This is the first Budget spotlight report prepared by the Disability Unit in the Department of the Taoiseach, established to bring a renewed focus, urgency and weight to disability issues.

Drawing on inputs received from Government Departments, the report outlines new or enhanced disability-related measures introduced in Budget 2026 that will support the implementation of the Government’s overarching strategy for disability, the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030.

The report finds that Budget 2026 had a particularly strong focus on investment in both disability and mainstream services. A record €3.8 billion allocation to the Department of Children, Disability and Equality for specialist disability services represents a 20% increase in funding for disability services, which will improve both sustainability of the sector and delivery of disability services for children and adults.

The increased investment will, amongst other outcomes, expand access to respite services for families, provide new places in day services, and enhance therapy services and other specialised supports through local Children’s Disability Network Teams.

Special education also saw record investment under Budget 2026, totalling €3 billion, which will see an additional 860 special education teachers appointed along with over 1,700 Special Needs Assistants.

Other initiatives outlined in the report include increased investment in housing adaptation grants and in the public transport retrofit programme, along with enhanced supports for employers for the employment of disabled people.

In addition, Budget 2026 also contained targeted and mainstream social protection measures which will support households with disabilities, including increases in weekly rates, expansion of eligibility to schemes, and amendments to income disregards for carers.

Budget 2026 is a first step in the Government’s ambition to deliver the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030. I believe we have made a strong start in year 1 of our programme of work and investment. Future budgets are expected to build on this progress to ensure disabled people are supported, empowered, and enabled to fully participate in their communities and society.

Energy Policy

Questions (237)

Jennifer Whitmore

Question:

237. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Taoiseach to provide an update on the work of the Cabinet offshore energy clearinghouse. [9930/26]

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Written answers

The Taoiseach

I established the Offshore Wind Energy Clearing House in September 2025. It is chaired by the Secretary General of my Department and is composed of representatives of the Offshore Wind Energy Sector and the Secretaries General of those Government Departments that have a role in the successful deployment of offshore wind energy. It has met on two occasions and will meet again later this month.

Its objective is to seek to resolve identified impediments to the timely delivery of offshore renewable energy through providing attention at the centre of Government. It invites the heads of relevant public sector bodies to meetings to discuss relevant issues. The Clearing House supports and reinforces the work of the Offshore Wind Delivery Taskforce, especially where issues cannot be resolved at Taskforce level.

Cybersecurity Policy

Questions (238, 239)

Malcolm Byrne

Question:

238. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Taoiseach the number of staff directly responsible for cybersecurity, as distinct from IT, within his Department; if a threat analyst, vulnerability manager and a cyber infrastructure engineer are employed; if not in-house, if this work is outsourced. [9439/26]

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Malcolm Byrne

Question:

239. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Taoiseach the extent to which his Department examines third party supply chain vulnerability when it comes to cybersecurity. [9457/26]

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Written answers

The Taoiseach

I propose to take Questions Nos. 238 and 239 together.

In common with other Government Departments, the Department of the Taoiseach has comprehensive arrangements in place to support cyber security and receives regular advice on these matters from the relevant authorities, including the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer and the National Cyber Security Centre.

Cybersecurity awareness is the responsibility of all staff and cybersecurity awareness training is made available to staff in the Department on an ongoing basis.

The Department's ICT Team have skills across the range of ICT and digital disciplines, including cybersecurity and implementation of the full range of cybersecurity measures is undertaken by the ICT Team in conjunction with appropriate external expertise as required.

The Department actively participates in the Government Cyber Security Coordination & Response (GovCORE) Network, facilitating information sharing and best practice exchange with other public sector bodies.

The Department implements a risk-based approach to the management of its third-party supply chain. All third party suppliers of ICT are appropriately managed via a third party management lifecycle which includes screening; onboarding; ongoing management and monitoring; risk assessment and mitigation; and termination.

The Department is in the process of reviewing its processes and procedures in relation to third-party supply chain management in order to ensure that they meet the requirements of the Network and Information Security (NIS2) Directive.

Question No. 239 answered with Question No. 238.

Departmental Bodies

Questions (240)

Richard Boyd Barrett

Question:

240. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach to provide details of all active interdepartmental, interagency, and department-agency working groups organised under his remit. [10163/26]

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Written answers

The Taoiseach

In answering this question, I am interpreting "working groups" as groups that are working towards the completion of particular projects or tasks, rather than groups that meet on an ongoing basis to provide strategic oversight on cross-cutting issues underpinning the work of the Cabinet Committees, etc.

Accordingly, the table below lists the interdepartmental, interagency, and department-agency working groups organised under the remit of the Department of the Taoiseach:

• North East Inner City Oversight Group

• Oversight Board for Roadmap for Delivery of Dublin City Taskforce Report

• Prosecution Reform Steering Committee

• Inter-Departmental Working Group on Well-being Framework.

• Press Office Training Working Group

• Public Service Delivery Partners Group on Child and Family Homelessness

• Inter-Departmental Assistant Secretary General group on Shared Island Delivery

• Inter-Departmental Assistant Secretary General group on Ireland-UK

• Delivering Homes Building Communities, Industry Capability Group

• Housing, Investment, and Policy Impact Working Group

Covid-19 Pandemic

Questions (241)

Aidan Farrelly

Question:

241. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Taoiseach further to Parliamentary Question No. 1152 of 4 February 2026, the costs to date, including start-up cost of Ireland's Covid-19 evaluation; if he will provide incurred costs by heading (details supplied) and the number of staff working on the evaluation. [10361/26]

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Written answers

The Taoiseach

While the COVID-19 Evaluation is funded from the Vote of the Department of the Taoiseach, it operates independently of the Department.

The table below provides the expenditure incurred to date by the COVID-19 Evaluation:

Item	€
IT Costs	39,557
Consultancy	-
Advertising	99,207
Office Space Leasing	-
Staff Costs*	405,031
Running/operational costs	78,597
Total	622,392

*Includes staff, Chair and Panel members

The Secretariat to the COVID-19 Evaluation is staffed by a small team of civil servants seconded from a number of Government Departments at the following grades Principal Officer (1); Assistant Principal Officer (2); Higher Executive Officer (1); Administrative Officer (1); Executive Officer (1); and Clerical Officer (1).